Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo may have downplayed his injury’s significance after Saturday’s game against Almería, but now that he’s set to be sidelined for another two weeks, what was considered a minor problem has become a full-blown injury. His early second half substitution may have only been precautionary, but having already missed a Champions League match against Galatasaray, that precautions done. Ronaldo’s leg problem is a full-blown injury, and anytime a star of his talent is hurt, it’s an outright concern.

That concern will keep the Ballon d’Or candidate out for Saturday’s match against Real Valladolid. If the two-week timeline holds up, Ronaldo will also miss a Copa del Rey match with Olímpic de Xàtiva and El Real’s Champions League group stage finale against Copenhagen.

If all goes well, Ronaldo will be back by Real Madrid’s Dec. 14 visit to Osasuna, though their next true challenge may not happen until Dec. 22’s visit to Valencia. The Merengues can afford to be cautious, and with Ronaldo clearly not 100 percent (according to his coach), caution becomes common sense.

From Reuters:

“No, Cristiano won’t play [against Valladolid] because he is not comfortable and doesn’t feel good,” the [Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti] said.

“We did a scan this morning and while the muscle is completely healed he is not comfortable and hasn’t trained much, so we are not going to take the risk. He has 15 days to work and prepare well for the next league match [at Osasuna on 14 December].”

All of a sudden worries Ángel Di María won’t get enough playing time can be squelched. Granted, most of those worries are mine (the guy may be the most under-appreciated player in the game today), but with with one of their attackers sidelined, Real Madrid has enough room for their Argentine winger. Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale will still be there to supply goals. Isco will pull the strings. Jesé, Álvaro Morata, and Luka Modric will get their time. Real Madrid have enough to cover to survive without Ronaldo, especially with a guy like Di María.

But Ronaldo’s is yet another name added to the list of players worn down by the World Cup cycle. Lionel Messi had a reoccurrence of his hamstring injury, while Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger are both sidelined for Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund have been decimated in defense, while Vincent Kompany can’t get right for Manchester City. Not everything comes down to wear-and-tear, but the now that qualifying’s done, these players (and others) will have a chance to get healthy for the season’s second half.